Teachers the best nation builders, must bring all children to mainstream: President

Kovind said that teachers giving extra tuition to those who paid for it was like “selling education”.

indiaUpdated: Sep 05, 2017 22:07 IST

Agencies Indo Asian News Service, New Delhi

President Ram Nath Kovind (PTI )

President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday said teachers are the “best category” of nation builders but noted there is a dip in the standard of education because teachers are running away from their responsibility.

After meeting teachers who received awards on the occasion of Teachers Day, he said: “You are the best category of nation builders. India is a diverse nation... bringing all children to the mainstream is the responsibility of teachers.”

He also said that it was “important that our children should be taught to be good human beings first and imbibe the values of honesty and integrity” because it was “only then will they excel in the profession they choose”.

Kovind however said that there is a dip in the standard of education because “teachers are running away from their responsibility”.

He also called on teachers to try to understand the family and financial background of students so that they can bring all students to the same level.

“Children in schools are from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. Teachers need to take care of this. They should make an effort to understand the child’s family background and minimise disparity among the students of a class.

“Without understanding the background of every student, uniformity cannot be brought,” he said in his speech in Hindi.

President Ram Nath Kovind with awardee teachers on the occasion of Teacher's Day at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Tuesday.
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PTI
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Pointing out that many teachers gave extra tuition to those who paid for it, he said it was like “selling education”.

“As per Indian tradition, education is not sold, it is given as a gift. If you convert it into tuition or coaching, what would be the difference in a trader and a teacher? You would be selling education,” he said.

Kovind said that education was never sold or commercialise in the Indian tradition and was considered as ‘vidya daan’ (selfless act of imparting knowledge).

“Those who do charity or donate are in the highest echelon of the society. Only those who have something with them can donate...If we convert this (donation) into coaching and tuitions, then I feel there would not be any difference between a businessman and a teacher.

“Those who indulge in such activities, they are even at lower category than traders in the society,” he said.